The Power of the Ballad
by Mrs.Monster
Summary: Dean tries to woo Molly in his own way and Sam's not sure how much more of this he can handle. Pre-DeanxMolly in Sam's POV.


**Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Supernatural or Sherlock. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Author's Note: Just something that popped into my head while listening to Mr. Big earlier. Probably not my best work, and I didn't go over it with a fine-tooth comb. Just something for fun. I don't go into detail about why Molly is with the Winchesters- just... she was involved in a case somehow, and stuck around. Like I said- just a little thing for fun. **

**Warning for gratuitous song referencing. **

**The Power of the Ballad **

Sam wasn't sure how much more of this he could take. It'd always been a habit of theirs to pick up strays- one that'd been going on for years- but usually they didn't _stick around_. Not that he had anything against Molly. No, Doctor Hooper was actually a refreshing change; she was intelligent, funny and she could drink Dean under the table. Molly wasn't the problem. _Dean _was.

A migraine throbbed in his temple as Dean nudged the volume up a little, _'I Remember You' _by Skid Row blasting through the Impala as he gave the rear-view mirror fleeting glances. Every time he'd look away quickly and his hands would tighten on the wheel and Sam knew exactly who he was mooning over. There was, after all, only one person back there, with her feet curled up underneath of her, a book open in her lap.

There was a small reprieve when the song ended and Dean quickly snatched the tape from the deck. Just as quickly he was grabbing the next, he kept them within reaching distance and Sam knew damn well what was coming next because this had been going on for a week straight. And sure enough, after Dean shoved the clear plastic rectangle into the player and jabbed at the fast-forward button. The tape hissing and spitting as it was shoved toward the next song on Dean's never-ending play list of complete obviousness.

_'I'll Be There For You' _by freaking Bon Jovi was always, _always_ next, followed by more longing looks into the mirror. Dean started singing along, and Sam let his head fall to the window, hard. It was a testament to how far gone his brother was that it didn't provoke a reaction. Five minutes and fifty goddamn seconds later it was over, and Sam acted before Dean could because this certain tape hadn't gotten this much play time since Dad had bought it back in '91. Sam actually didn't think that Mr. Big was that bad, but after listening to _'To Be with You' _over and over again for a week, he was seriously entertaining the thought of tracking Eric Martin down and killing him with his bare hands. Dean gave him a funny look but Sam just glared at his brother.

Another song change later and he almost wept with relief at the sight of a diner coming up on their left and Sam practically punched the stereo, cutting off _'High Enough_' by Damn Yankees. Seriously, if Dean didn't make an actual move soon, instead of this- whatever in the hell this was, Sam was going to slaughter him.

"Look, food!" Sam said cheerfully in response to Dean's glare. "Molly, you hungry?"

"Starving," she answered, slipping a book mark between pages, laying some murder-mystery next to her on the seat. Sam never understood her fascination with the genre- didn't they get enough murder and mystery in their everyday lives?

Dean swung into the parking lot of _Duncan's Diner_ and they all trooped inside. They gave their orders to a waitress named Sandy, double bacon cheeseburgers and fries for Molly and Dean, a garden salad and chicken wrap for Sam. Dean picked up two of the straws Sandy had left and began drumming on the tabletop.

After the past week it was easy enough for Sam to pick out the opening of '_Every Rose Has It's Thorn_'. Sam snatched the straws away, and Dean gave an indignant shout.

"You don't need a straw. Drink your damn Coke like an adult."

"I'm an adult. And I do _need _a straw," Molly said from her seat right next to Sam. Dean went all starry-eyed and goofy for a second before shaking it off.

Sam wasn't sure _when _it happened, he'd missed that part, but somewhere along the line, Dean had fallen in love with Molly. And that wasn't a problem, really, Sam thought that it would be awesome if Dean and Molly got together. No, the _problem _was that Dean was _Dean_. He couldn't just come out and _say _that he was in love with Molly. It would be a different story if all Dean wanted was a little action between the sheets, but Sam knew his big brother. He knew that Dean wanted a hell of a lot more than that, so Dean was trying to _woo_ Molly. Only Molly wasn't getting what Dean was trying to convey through the never-ending loop of power ballads. She wasn't getting it _at all_.

Sam was trying to be patient. And under normal circumstances, he could handle Dean's taste in music, but _this_ Sam massaged his temples. He could cope, he told himself. Sam had to. Because Dean deserved to get whatever he was going after with Molly, and he fully believed that she could make his brother happy. So he was going to power through- unless Dean pulled out The Pretenders. That's where Sam drew the freaking line.

Food was eaten, the check was paid and Sam braced himself as they got back into the car. He'd gotten a tiny sliver of peace, at least. In the backseat, Molly pulled out her phone and started texting her friends back in London, John and Sherlock, using the international plan that they'd started getting special for her when she'd joined them a year ago. Dean shoved another tape in the deck, and they were off.

_'I Would Do Anything for Love_' was followed by _'Heaven_' which was back-to-back with '_More Than Words'. _

Sam pressed a finger to his eye to stop the twitching, telling himself over and over that _he loved his brother_. But as Sam knew he would, fifty miles outside of South Bend, Indiana, Dean crossed the line.

"_I'll stand by you! I'll stand by you! Won't let nobody hurt you! I'll stand by-" _

"All right! That's enough!" Sam ejected the tape and threw The Pretenders out the damn window.

"Hey!" Dean shouted, and Molly was looking at him like he was insane.

"I've had enough. Stop at that frikkin' motel- _that one right there!_"

In the motel parking lot, the sound of Sam's door slamming was like a gunshot and both Molly and Dean slid from the car, eying him warily.

"Dude, what the hell is your problem?" Dean asked, a frown etched on his face.

"You! You are my problem, Dean! Just nut up already and tell her!"

Dean's eyes went all wide and panicked and he glanced at Molly before he looked down and started mumbling. _"Don't know what you're talkin' about." _

"You won't? Find. I'm sorry, Dean, but you've forced me to do this."

"What are you talking about?" Molly asked and Dean started shaking his head _no, please _no.

"It's either _this_ or the ritualistic slaughter of Gary Moore, and I'm going with the less homicidal option."

Sam turned to Molly. "Dean's in love with you, but isn't man enough to admit it"- he powered through Dean's _"Hey!"_- "and if the freaking sappy ass songs weren't a big enough hint, the moon eyes he's been throwing at you should've been. It's out in the open, and for the love of god if I have to listen to _one more _damn song by Warrant, I'm going to _kill myself!_"

Sam's chest was heaving and Molly looked completely unnerved, and okay, maybe he shouldn't have shouted all of that, but enough was too much. "I'm going to get room keys."

He turned and stomped his way into the motel office. When he came back out, Dean had Molly bend backward over the trunk of the Impala and it looked like they were trying to suck each others faces off. Without a word, Sam left one of the two room keys on the hood of the car and took the other one for himself. Locking the door that was originally supposed to be Molly's, Sam immediately crawled into the bed and covered his head with one of the pillows. One thing was for sure- he didn't want to hear the sounds that he knew would be coming through the paper-thin walls from Dean and Molly's room next door anymore than he wanted to listen to goddamn Damn Yankees again.

…**...**

Songs referenced:

Skid Row- _I Remember You_ (_Skid Row_- 1989)

Jon Bon Jovi- _I'll Be There For You_ (_New Jersey_- 1988)

Meat Loaf- I_'d Do Anything For Love_ (_Bat out of Hell 2- Back into Hell_- 1993)

Mr. Big- _To Be With You_ (_Lean Into It_- 1991)

Warrant- _Heaven_ (_Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich_- 1989)

Poison- _Every Rose Has It's Thorn_ (_Open Up and Say... Ahh!_ 1988)

Damn Yankees- _High Enough_ (_Damn Yankees_- 1990)

The Pretenders- _I'll Stand By You_ (_Last of the Independents_- 1994)

Extreme- _More Than Words_ (_Extreme 2: Pornograffitti- _1991)


End file.
